By Ben Fractenberg
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — A new state law aims to help New Yorkers sleep tight and not let the bedbugs bite.
The State Legislature passed a bill Thursday requiring city landlords to disclose their building’s bed bug history to potential tenants.
If Gov. David Paterson signs the bill into law, landlords will have to tell potential renters or buyers whether the apartment they are looking at, or any others in the same building, have been infested within the past year.
“This is a very basic protection for tenants from the physical, emotional and financial havoc bed bugs put upon renters," said State Sen. Liz Krueger.
"If landlords know they will be forced to disclose previous infestations then they are much likely to address the problem when it is first discovered, instead of waiting until renters are trapped in a lease.”
The number of confirmed infestations in the city has soared in recent years, from 82 in 2004 to 4,084 in 2009, the New York Times reported.
